Method of Creating Spiral Inductor having High Q Value

ABSTRACT

A method for fabricating an inductor structure having an increased quality factor (Q) is provided. In one embodiment, a substrate is provided and a plurality of metal layers are formed on the substrate. A spirally patterned conductor layer is formed over and in the substrate and in the metal layers to produce a planar spiral inductor. A via hole is formed over and in the substrate and in the metal layers within the spirally patterned conductor layer, the via hole being formed by a through silicon via (TSV) process. Thereafter, the via hole is filled with a core layer, wherein the core layer extends from a bottom surface of the substrate to a top surface of the metal layers.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/946,899, filed Nov. 29, 2007, the disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to a method of manufacturinginductor structures, and more particularly to a method of manufacturinga spiral inductor structure having a high quality factor Q, a spiralinductor structure, and a device package structure using the spiralinductor structure as a packing element.

An inductor is an impedance device typically including a coil, with orwithout a core, for introducing inductance to an electronic circuit.Both transformers and inductive reactors are included within the meaningof “inductor.” Various inductors are shaped as coils wrapped on variouscore materials such as ferrites. The core multiplies the inductance of agiven coil by the “permeability” of the core material. The coretypically is in the shape of a rod or toroid. To obtain very highinductance, the coil typically includes many turns. Winding the coil ona closed loop iron or ferrite core can further increase the inductance.To obtain as pure an inductance as possible the DC resistance of thewinding should be reduced to a minimum.

Inductor structures can find their use in semiconductor devices.Microelectronic or semiconductor devices are typically fabricated from asemiconductor substrate over which patterned conductor layers are formedand separated by dielectric layers. As the microelectronic arts haveadvanced, integration levels and functionality levels have increased sothat not only conventional microelectronic or semiconductor structuressuch as transistors, resistors, diodes, capacitors are fabricated in orfor use with the semiconductor device, but less conventional structuressuch as inductors have also been fabricated in or for use with thesemiconductor or microelectronic device. In particular, in semiconductoror microelectronic devices that are intended to be employed with highfrequency applications, such as mobile communications it is common toemploy inductor structures within the semiconductor or microelectronicdevices.

A variety of microelectronic conductor structures have been disclosed inthe prior art. Many of these structures have a spiral design that isimplemented in a plane with the spiral containing one or more turns inthe plane of the inductor. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,396,101discloses a planar spiral microelectronic inductor structure havingformed within its center a core layer.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,161 discloses a semiconductor device including aninductor element which includes a first conductive film pattern of aspiral configuration formed on a major face of the semiconductorsubstrate. A second conductive film pattern of an insular configurationis electronically connected only to the first conductive film patternthrough contact holes formed in the interlayer insulation film andextending in an overlapping relationship with the first conductive filmpattern.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,932 discloses a spiral inductor fabricated from asemiconductor substrate that provides a large inductance while occupyingonly a small surface area. A magnetic material is provided either aboveor below the inductor to increase the inductance of the inductor.Magnetic material also acts as a barrier that confines electronic noisegenerated in the spiral conductor to the area occupied by the spiralinductor. The inductance of a pair of stacked spiral inductors isincreased by including a layer of magnetic material between the stackedspiral inductors.

All of these approaches have as common objectives to enhance the qualityfactor Q of the inductor, to maximize the inductive value, and to reducethe surface area over which the inductor is created. As is understood bya person skilled in the art, a Q factor of a microelectronic inductorstructure is in general described in terms of a ratio of energy storagecapacity within the inductor structure with respect to power dissipationwithin the inductor structure. However, due to conventional inductorsrequiring a considerable amount of space for installation and difficultyin manufacturing conventional inductors due to their complex coilstructure, conventional inductors have a low quality factor Q.

For these reasons and other reasons that will become apparent uponreading the following detailed description, there is a need for animproved spiral inductor structure having a high quality factor Qsuitable for integration in IC chips.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to a method for fabricating aninductor structure having an increased quality factor (Q). In oneembodiment, a substrate is provided and a plurality of metal layers areformed on the substrate. A spirally patterned conductor layer is formedover and in the substrate and in the metal layers to produce a planarspiral inductor. A via hole is formed over and in the substrate and inthe metal layers within the spirally patterned conductor layer, the viahole being formed by a through silicon via (TSV) process. Thereafter,the via hole is filled with a core layer, wherein the core layer extendsfrom a bottom surface of the substrate to a top surface of the metallayers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention willbecome more fully apparent from the following detailed description,appended claims, and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an inductor structure according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the inductor structure of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an inductor structure according to anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the inductor structure of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, onehaving an ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the inventioncan be practiced without these specific details. In some instances,well-known structures and processes have not been described in detail toavoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, theappearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” invarious places throughout this specification are not necessarily allreferring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features,structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner inone or more embodiments. It should be appreciated that the followingfigures are not drawn to scale; rather, these figures are merelyintended for illustration.

With reference to FIG. 1, shown is a plan view of an inductor structure10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. A substrate 20which may be silicon (Si), silicon-on-insulator (SOD, orsilicon-sapphire (SOS) is firstly provided, and a plurality of metallayers 25 are formed on the substrate 20. The inductor structure 10 isfabricated over and in the substrate 20 and in the metal layers 25. Aconductor layer 15 is formed over and in the substrate 20 and in themetal layers 25 and may be formed by conventional processes includingbut not limited to vapor deposition and sputtering. Conductor layer 15may be formed of non-magnetic metal and non-magnetic metal alloy suchas, but not limited to aluminum, aluminum alloy, copper and copper alloyand conductor materials such as, but not limited to magnetic metal andmagnetic metal alloy such as permalloy. In this embodiment, theconductor layer 15 is shown to be spirally arranged and substantiallysquare. However, it is understood that conductor layer 15 is not limitedto this embodiment but may be substantially circular, rectangular,triangular, elliptical, or higher order polygonal geometries.

It is understood that the conductor linewidth is dependent on the designrequirement and the fabrication process being employed. In oneembodiment, conductor layer 15 is formed with a linewidth of from about2 μm to about 20 μm. Conductor layer 15 terminates in a first bond pad30 a employing an underpass to an interior section of the spirallypatterned conductor layer 15 and in a second bond pad 30 b integral toan exterior section of the spirally patterned conductor layer 15.

Prior to forming a core layer 40 of the inductor structure 10, a viahole is formed within the dielectric layer 50 and within the centralcavity defined within the center of the spirally patterned conductorlayer 15. In one embodiment of the present invention, the via hole isformed by way of a through silicon via (TSV) process. Through siliconvias are essentially vertical connections etched through the siliconwafer and subsequently filled with a metal. These vias allow multiplechips to be stacked together and allow different chip components to bepackaged much closer together for faster, smaller, and lowered-powersystems.

After forming the via hole, the via hole is then filled by a core layer40. FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the inductor structure ofFIG. 1 clearly showing the central core layer 40 is insulated from theconductor layer 15 and surrounded by the conductor layer 15. As shown inFIG. 1, core layer 40 is planar and substantially square as a whole andcan be made of a high permeability magnetic material and formed of aferromagnetic material such as, for example, iron, nickel, MnZn ferrite,NiZn ferrite, NiFe ferrite, NiCuZn alloy, other ferrites, mumetals, andmumetal alloys.

In conventional inductor structures, the core layers generally extendpartially in the substrate but do not extend all the way from one end ofthe substrate to the other. In one embodiment of the present invention,core layer 40 is shown extended from a bottom surface 24 of substrate 20to a top surface 22 of the metal layers 25. By forming a core layer 40with through silicon via technology and having the core layer 40 extendfrom a bottom surface 24 of substrate 20 to a top surface 22 of themetal layers 25, the inductor structure 10 of the present invention canimprove its Q value.

As is understood by those skilled in the art, the Q factor is related tothe inductance L and is given by equation (1):

${Q = {\frac{1}{R}\sqrt{\frac{L}{C}}}},$

where R, L, and C are the resistance, inductance, and capacitance of thecircuit, respectively.

Now, consider a current loop δS with current i(t). According toBiot-Savart law, current i(t) sets up a magnetic flux density at r:

${{B\left( {r,t} \right)} = {\frac{\mu_{0}\mu_{r}{i(t)}}{4\pi}{\int_{\delta \; S}\frac{{l} \times \hat{r}}{r^{2}}}}}\ $

Now magnetic flux through the surface S the loop encircles is given byequation (2):

${\Phi (t)} = {{\int_{S}{{B\left( {r,t} \right)} \cdot {A}}} = {{\frac{\mu_{0}\mu_{r}{i(t)}}{4\pi}{\int_{S}{\int_{\delta \; S}{\frac{{l} \times \hat{r}}{r^{2}}\  \cdot {A}}}}} = {{Li}(t)}}}$

From there we get equation (3) for inductance of the current loop:

$L = {\frac{\mu_{0}\mu_{r}}{4\pi}{\int_{S}{\int_{\delta \; S}{\frac{{l} \times \hat{r}}{r^{2}}\  \cdot {A}}}}}$

where

-   -   μ₀ is the permeability of free space (4π×10⁻⁷ H/m),    -   μ_(r) the relative permeability of the material within the        inductor,    -   dl is the differential length vector of the current loop element    -   {circumflex over (r)} is the unit displacement vector from the        current element to the field point r    -   r is the distance from the current element to the field point r    -   dA is the differential vector element of surface area A, with        infinitesimally small magnitude and direction normal to surface        S

From equation (3) and for a fixed geometry-shaped inductor, theinductance value L may be increased by the choice of μ_(r), the relativepermeability of the material within the inductor. Equation (1) aboveshows that the higher the L value, the higher the Q factor value.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show both plan and cross-sectional views, respectively ofthe inductor structure 10 where the core layer 40 is divided into a gridof many small individual members each insulated from one another. Thesesmall members as a whole are used to form the core layer 40. A pluralityof individual core layers 40 can reduce eddy-current power loss intransformer or inductor cores. Having reduced eddy-current power lossalso reduces the thermal heat generated by the inductor structure.

In the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the magnetic corelayer 40 provides an enhanced Q factor for a microelectronic inductorstructure fabricated in accord with the present invention. Although theshape of the core layer 40 shown in the figures here has been set squareto conform to the shape of the spirally patterned conductor layer 15,the core portion may be circular when a circular spiral coil is employedor may be shaped in any form irrelevant to the spiral form. This alsoholds true with regard to the plurality of individual core layers.

In the preceding detailed description, the present invention isdescribed with reference to specifically exemplary embodiments thereof.It will, however, be evident that various modifications, structures,processes, and changes may be made thereto without departing from thebroader spirit and scope of the present invention, as set forth in theclaims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regardedas illustrative and not restrictive. It is understood that the presentinvention is capable of using various other combinations andenvironments and is capable of changes or modifications within the scopeof the inventive concept as expressed herein.

1. A method for fabricating an inductor structure having an increasedquality factor (Q), the method comprising: providing a substrate;forming a plurality of metal layers on the substrate; forming over andin the substrate and in the metal layers a spirally patterned conductorlayer which forms a planar spiral inductor; forming a via hole over andin the substrate and in the metal layers within the spirally patternedconductor layer; and filling the via hole with a core layer, wherein thecore layer extends from a bottom surface of the substrate to a topsurface of the metal layers, and the core layer is insulated from thespirally patterned conductor layer and surrounded by the spirallypatterned conductor layer.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the viahole is formed by a through silicon via (TSV) process.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the core layer is made of a high permeability magneticmaterial.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the high permeabilitymagnetic material comprises iron, nickel, MnZn ferrite, NiZn ferrite,NiFe ferrite, NiCuZn alloy, other ferrites, mumetals, and mumetalalloys.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the core layer comprises aplurality of individual members divided and insulated from each other.6. An inductor structure having an increased quality factor (Q),comprising: a substrate; a plurality of metal layers formed on thesubstrate; a spirally patterned conductor layer formed over and in thesubstrate and in the metal layers, the spirally patterned conductorlayer forming a planar spiral inductor; a via hole formed over and inthe substrate and in the metal layers within the spirally patternedconductor layer; and a core layer filling the via hole, wherein the corelayer extends from a bottom surface of the substrate to a top surface ofthe metal layers, and the core layer is insulated from the spirallypatterned conductor layer and surrounded by the spirally patternedconductor layer.
 7. The inductor structure of claim 6, wherein the viahole is formed by a through silicon via (TSV) process.
 8. The inductorstructure of claim 6, wherein the core layer is made of a highpermeability magnetic material.
 9. The inductor structure of claim 8,wherein the high permeability magnetic material comprises iron, nickel,MnZn ferrite, NiZn ferrite, NiFe ferrite, NiCuZn alloy, other ferrites,mumetals, and mumetal alloys.
 10. The inductor structure of claim 6,wherein the core layer comprises a plurality of individual membersdivided and insulated from each other.
 11. A packaging structurecomprising: a substrate on which a device is formed; a plurality ofmetal layers are formed on the substrate; a spirally patterned conductorlayer formed over and in the substrate and in the metal layers, thespirally patterned conductor layer forming a planar spiral inductor; avia hole formed over and in the substrate and in the metal layers withinthe spirally patterned conductor layer; and a core layer filling the viahole, wherein the core layer extends from a bottom surface of thesubstrate to a top surface of the metal layers, and the core layer isinsulated from the spirally patterned conductor layer and surrounded bythe spirally patterned conductor layer.
 12. The packing structure ofclaim 11, wherein the via hole is formed by a through silicon via (TSV)process.
 13. The packing structure of claim 11, wherein the core layeris made of a high permeability magnetic material.
 14. The packingstructure of claim 13, wherein the high permeability magnetic materialcomprises iron, nickel, MnZn ferrite, NiZn ferrite, NiFe ferrite, NiCuZnalloy, other ferrites, mumetals, and mumetal alloys.
 15. The packingstructure of claim 11, wherein the core layer comprises a plurality ofindividual members divided and insulated from each other.